{ "submission_id": "2939524", "keywords": [ { "keyword_id": "6636", "keyword_name": "cadet", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "56" }, { "keyword_id": "414618", "keyword_name": "casual exposure", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "252" }, { "keyword_id": "37", "keyword_name": "cub", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "285622" }, { "keyword_id": "123", "keyword_name": "female", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1104295" }, { "keyword_id": "33", "keyword_name": "fox", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "251435" }, { "keyword_id": "679", "keyword_name": "herm", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "44447" }, { "keyword_id": "2486", "keyword_name": "island", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1256" }, { "keyword_id": "8205", "keyword_name": "koala", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1966" }, { "keyword_id": "191", "keyword_name": "magic", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "25900" }, { "keyword_id": "165", "keyword_name": "male", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1214572" }, { "keyword_id": "1421", "keyword_name": "military", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "2907" }, { "keyword_id": "1171", "keyword_name": "naga", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "4580" }, { "keyword_id": "6981", "keyword_name": "navy", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "318" }, { "keyword_id": "4459", "keyword_name": "prophecy", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "169" }, { "keyword_id": "25444", "keyword_name": "public nudity", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "9514" }, { "keyword_id": "18674", "keyword_name": "recording", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "2621" }, { "keyword_id": "18039", "keyword_name": "sailing", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "141" }, { "keyword_id": "5227", "keyword_name": "sailor", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "720" }, { "keyword_id": "134", "keyword_name": "serval", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1303" }, { "keyword_id": "10129", "keyword_name": "supernatural", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "747" }, { "keyword_id": "6102", "keyword_name": "tortoise", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "311" }, { "keyword_id": "2513", "keyword_name": "tropical", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "799" }, { "keyword_id": "81896", "keyword_name": "visions", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "54" }, { "keyword_id": "8524", "keyword_name": "wallaby", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1167" }, { "keyword_id": "5127", "keyword_name": "witch", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "6932" }, { "keyword_id": "164", "keyword_name": "wolf", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "196130" } ], "hidden": "f", "scraps": "f", "favorite": "f", "favorites_count": "3", "create_datetime": "2023-03-02 09:45:27.311315+00", "create_datetime_usertime": "02 Mar 2023 10:45 CET", "last_file_update_datetime": "2023-03-02 09:38:08.387454+00", "last_file_update_datetime_usertime": "02 Mar 2023 10:38 CET", "username": "NaughtyThorn", "user_id": "103194", "user_icon_file_name": "121236_Thornbrier_thorn_brier_head_100_.jpg", "user_icon_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/121/121236_Thornbrier_thorn_brier_head_100_.jpg", "user_icon_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/121/121236_Thornbrier_thorn_brier_head_100_.jpg", "user_icon_url_small": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/121/121236_Thornbrier_thorn_brier_head_100_.jpg", "file_name": "4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8.png", "file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/4383/4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8.png", "file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/4383/4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8.png", "file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4383/4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8.jpg", "thumbnail_url_huge_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4383/4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8.jpg", "thumbnail_url_large_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/4383/4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8_noncustom.jpg", "thumbnail_url_medium_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/4383/4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8_noncustom.jpg", "thumb_medium_noncustom_x": "120", "thumb_medium_noncustom_y": "73", "thumb_large_noncustom_x": "200", "thumb_large_noncustom_y": "121", "thumb_huge_noncustom_x": "300", "thumb_huge_noncustom_y": "182", "files": [ { "file_id": "4383380", "file_name": "4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8.png", "file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/4383/4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8.png", "file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/4383/4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8.png", "file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4383/4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8.jpg", "mimetype": "image/png", "submission_id": "2939524", "user_id": "103194", "submission_file_order": "0", "full_size_x": "1007", "full_size_y": "611", "screen_size_x": "920", "screen_size_y": "558", "preview_size_x": "300", "preview_size_y": "182", "initial_file_md5": "72b01a2d3d5eada722253759d46c4385", "full_file_md5": "de8fa466eb76c7f97964cfb06be546f9", "large_file_md5": "59b0c399f6ea51b4c80a96f5c7a775ef", "small_file_md5": "1931f1c729ded953c176aa2e8a909123", "thumbnail_md5": "0d5e73535f4a34a2e6bdf6a42fa44f4e", "deleted": "f", "create_datetime": "2023-03-02 09:38:08.387454+00", "create_datetime_usertime": "02 Mar 2023 10:38 CET", "thumbnail_url_huge_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4383/4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8.jpg", "thumbnail_url_large_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/4383/4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8_noncustom.jpg", "thumbnail_url_medium_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/4383/4383380_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_8_noncustom.jpg", "thumb_medium_noncustom_x": "120", "thumb_medium_noncustom_y": "73", "thumb_large_noncustom_x": "200", "thumb_large_noncustom_y": "121", "thumb_huge_noncustom_x": "300", "thumb_huge_noncustom_y": "182" } ], "pools": [ { "pool_id": "65542", "name": "Divine Economics", "description": "All stories set in the universe ruled by the Divine Economics.", "count": "33", "submission_left_submission_id": "2937938", "submission_left_file_name": "4383370_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_7.png", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4383/4383370_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_7.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_large_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/4383/4383370_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_7_noncustom.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/4383/4383370_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_7_noncustom.jpg", "submission_left_thumb_medium_noncustom_x": "120", "submission_left_thumb_medium_noncustom_y": "75", "submission_left_thumb_large_noncustom_x": "200", "submission_left_thumb_large_noncustom_y": "125", "submission_left_thumb_huge_noncustom_x": "300", "submission_left_thumb_huge_noncustom_y": "188", "submission_right_submission_id": "2939757", "submission_right_file_name": "4383754_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_9.png", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_huge_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4383/4383754_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_9.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_large_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/4383/4383754_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_9_noncustom.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_medium_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/4383/4383754_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_9_noncustom.jpg", "submission_right_thumb_medium_noncustom_x": "120", "submission_right_thumb_medium_noncustom_y": "73", "submission_right_thumb_large_noncustom_x": "200", "submission_right_thumb_large_noncustom_y": "121", "submission_right_thumb_huge_noncustom_x": "300", "submission_right_thumb_huge_noncustom_y": "182" }, { "pool_id": "54489", "name": "Royal Westercrest Defense Cadets", "description": "Story of a young fox learning to defend her new life in Westercrest.", "count": "9", "submission_left_submission_id": "2937938", "submission_left_file_name": "4383370_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_7.png", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4383/4383370_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_7.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_large_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/4383/4383370_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_7_noncustom.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/4383/4383370_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_7_noncustom.jpg", "submission_left_thumb_medium_noncustom_x": "120", "submission_left_thumb_medium_noncustom_y": "75", "submission_left_thumb_large_noncustom_x": "200", "submission_left_thumb_large_noncustom_y": "125", "submission_left_thumb_huge_noncustom_x": "300", "submission_left_thumb_huge_noncustom_y": "188", "submission_right_submission_id": "2939757", "submission_right_file_name": "4383754_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_9.png", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_huge_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4383/4383754_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_9.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_large_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/4383/4383754_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_9_noncustom.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_medium_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/4383/4383754_NaughtyThorn_rwdc_9_noncustom.jpg", "submission_right_thumb_medium_noncustom_x": "120", "submission_right_thumb_medium_noncustom_y": "73", "submission_right_thumb_large_noncustom_x": "200", "submission_right_thumb_large_noncustom_y": "121", "submission_right_thumb_huge_noncustom_x": "300", "submission_right_thumb_huge_noncustom_y": "182" } ], "description": "Admiral Tag makes life difficult for our cadets and Amanda learns more than she ever expected.", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Admiral Tag makes life difficult for our cadets and Amanda learns more than she ever expected.", "writing": "The hologram showed a young fox in a navy harness, asleep on a large white bed in a retro-technical sailing cabin as two young navy marsupials hesitantly played their hands across her nubile body. Their love and inexperience were both obvious as they tried to think of what to do to her without her normal reactions to guide them.\n\nThey played with her rows of nipples, nibbled at her neck. The koala tried to hump her, but didn't seem to be enjoying it. Finally they settled on the koala fucking the wallaby on top of the fox while the wallaby occasionally played with the foxes pussy.\n\nThe whole hologram was captioned with notes from the fox herself, commenting on what an awkward situation she'd put them in. [My first sex tape, and I failed to prepare my partners. \n[i]Reine Mère[/i]! What have I done!? I feel like I can never look them in the face again, but I'm stuck on this ship with them for six more months. Oh, yeah, this was taken the night we launched to sea. That's my Captain and my best friend, the Comms officer. They really tried their best, but no one compares to you.]\n\n\"What's that, Chad,\" a naga asked her coworker.\n\nChad Farfield quickly snapped the hologram closed, \"Uh, nothing!\" Remembering where he was and the differing standards, he blushed and slowly reopened it. \"Uh, I mean, it's, it's my little girl and her friends. It’s the Cadet’s first night at sea.\" He wasn't sure what Channek would think of it, but he was supposed to be open and honest to be a good Crestian and earn his full citizenship.\n\nThe naga looked it over, \"Cadets? On the Jarcinian? I think they paraded by my parent’s village the other day. Hmm, I assume she consented to… that? Not my thing, but whatever. Neither are mammals in general. How's the programming going?\"\n\nChad opened his displays, \"Technically, the other two aren’t mammals, but I can see how easy it is to confuse us. As for the program, I'm getting a lot better with your systems than I was last week, so it's getting faster. Luckily, the Union medical computers were already Crestian designs, so I had some familiarity. I still have to look up a transfer code here or there to know how you guys do internal operations differently. I should have the DNA analysis code finished by Friday.\"\n\n\"Good work. But don't push yourself too hard. Tuesday will be just fine. If you rush and burn yourself out you'll miss things. We want quality code that will last, code you can be proud of.\"\n\nThe big gray wolf sighed. \"Yeah, I get it, intellectually. I'm still having to shake the Union work ethic of production for profit, bosses wringing every bit of labor from each worker in as little time as possible, for minimum pay allowable.\"\n\nChannek slithered up behind the wolf and used her four arms to massage his shoulders. \"You know, as Crestians, we are all family. I could help you relieve some of the stress of this transition to our way of life.\"\n\nChad went stiff, both in his back and shoulders and in his lap. He missed the secrecy of pants. \"Um, I'm, thank you, but, I'll have to decline. I have a small list of partners that I am dedicated to.\" He didn't want to say that his daughter had given him a Royal command, as that status was still a secret. He also felt guilty that part of him still feared reptiles like her. “Besides, I thought you weren’t into mammals.”\n\nHe was worried it was a bit of latent racism from how the Union painted reptiles as 'Super Predators' and relegated them to a barely livable state. He'd always believed it was wrong to treat them that way, but it was still hard to shake the decades of subtle propaganda. Movies with reptile villains, shows with prison blocks of mostly reptile inmates fighting the protagonists, news feeds of every major reptile crime.\n\nShe pressed her breasts against his back. “I don’t. I’ll be blunt, I’m not attracted to you at all, but if I can help, I’d like to. And you are, if not attractive, at least exotic. I’d never met someone from the Union before you joined our team.”\n\nHe consciously made the effort to let himself relax in her grip. \"I guess, I mean, you can help me relax, as long as we don't go too far. My mate needs to approve any new partners.\"\n\nChannek kept massaging, using her lower arms to work his chest while the upper arms remained on the shoulders and neck. \"And, where is your mate now?\"\n\n—\n\nCadet Amanda Farfield looked out across the forested island from the rigging using her digital binoculars. It was a nice upgrade from the old fashioned slide-telescope she'd been using all week. She was glad that Tag was slowly letting them use some of the more modern equipment they'd brought. She understood the ethos, learning to appreciate the history of their craft so they could be thankful of the improvements and always be able to fall back to less technically dependent methods if necessary. But it still felt annoying to know they had better tools and were not allowed to use them.\n\nFollowing several successful drills in ship maneuverability, they were going to make their first landing at the small island, and she had to find a suitable beachhead. Checking the maps on her wrist display, she verified the distance and coordinates and decided to avoid the bay due to possible complications with the reef. Instead, picking a beach near the island's sheer cliffs.\n\nRelaying the path to her Captain, he proceeded to direct the crew to their destination.\n\nTag patted Shull's back as they approached the island cliffs. \"You've done quite well, all of you. But I think it's time for a little disaster.\" She removed a knuckle grip from her belt and triggered it to launch a coherent beam of energy that crisscrossed the mast and main rigging, cutting them to shreds. \"Hmm, maybe you can bring us in on oar power alone? And look at the state of those sheets. They can be fixed, and new rope made, but that mast, tisk tisk, that's going to need replacing. Better go ashore and find a good tree for it.\"\n\nShull stood for a moment, mouth agape at what the Admiral had just done. Then he sighed and started issuing orders. He wrote in his logs that, 'she is like a force of nature, but more cunning and calculated, and no less devastating.'\n\n\"First Mate Miles, Navigator Amanda, prepare away teams to look for supplies and a suitable mast tree. Ropemesser Holin, assemble a prep team, clear off the deck, and set up the lathe for a mast on the beach. In fact, why don't we make an extra pair of oars, these cliffs are a likely place to lose some.\"\n\nThe Admiral leaned in, \"That's going to take quite a bit of our limited cargo space.\"\n\nHe nodded. \"You're trying to make me second guess my decision, but that's not happening without actionable information.\"\n\nShe circled him, inspecting him like prey. \"My, my, Shull, you've grown a bit stern.\"\n\n\"Yes, Admiral, I have. This last week, and now, you have shown me just how far you are willing to go to make us suffer and grow.\"\n\n\"Oh, you think this is the worst I'm willing to do?\"\n\n\"No, I trust it is not. But seeing how callously you cut up your prized vessel, that tells me there is no limit. I expect you may even let some of us die out here if you believe it will improve the survivors.\"\n\nShe tented her claws deviously, \"Excellent. You know now that I am not your savior out here. You and your crew are always in mortal danger, and only by working together will you survive. I have only six months to prepare you all for everything these waters can throw at you. So I will make this voyage a blessed hell.\"\n\n“And I’m going to make sure my entire crew makes it through!”\n\n“Goood. That’s why I chose you as Captain.”\n\n---\n\n“Amanda?” The purple serval called out in the forest. She held her harness to keep from fidgeting as she looked around for the rest of her Away Team.\n\nA brownish red blur dropped down in front of her causing her to jump in fear. “Yes, Witiker?” Amanda grabbed the Oar Tech to keep her from falling to the jungle floor. “Did you lose us? Ropeswain Timothy says he found a good tree, if you agree we’ll call Miles’ team to come help cut it down. We’ve also found some ripe fruits to add to our supplies, and plenty of long plant fiber for the loom.” Amanda escorted Cadet Witiker to the site of the prospective new mast so she could inspect it.\n\nAs Amanda kept searching the jungle she felt a subtle call, a pull, in one specific direction. She’d felt it before, that instinct that guided her to select this island in the first place. Following it she found herself facing the rocks of the cliff. Unlike the rest of the island, these had no soil, they were too hard for large plants to grow upon and were dominated by climbing vines. Finding a small passage behind some of the vines, she descended into the rocky cave.\n\nAt first, her night vision was sufficient, but as she went further the light became too dim and she put on active IR goggles. A few turns in and the previously full batteries suddenly registered empty. As she shook the equipment, felt along the cables, and was about to put them back on to try again, she noticed a subtle glow all around. Her eyes slowly adjusted to see by the light of the bioluminescent fungi. The spoors then seemed to form a trail, guiding her onward, downward, further and further.\n\nShe knew it was wrong to leave her team, but something about this felt so right to do alone.\n\nFinally, she emerged into a fire lit cave, candles and braziers suspended from support beams all around the edges of the cave. At the center, a pool of water bubbled as if boiling, but it gave off no steam. She stepped toward the pool and saw images swirling within, all of her. But these were things that had never happened.\n\nShe saw herself speaking with an older wallaby, Major Takrie, by her insignia. She saw herself placing flowers on her father’s funeral pyre. She saw herself leading a meeting of Princlings from all three Royal Families.\n\nAs she stood transfixed, three robed figures emerged from the darkness and approached the pool. “Welcome, Princess Jarcinia Halsy.”\n\nThe words shook her from gazing into the pool. “You, you know who I am? Um. Are, are you the Reavian Witches? My mom told me about you.”\n\nThey removed their hoods, revealing their older vixen faces. Reaching their hands over the pool, their robes caught with a greenish-blue fire that quickly consumed the cloth from their bodies leaving their forms naked. Amanda could see that, just as her mother had said, the Witches were both male and female at the same time. Herms in most countries were shunned, often killed, if the doctors didn’t ‘fix’ them shortly after birth. But not here in Westercrest. Here, they held a place of reverence for their similarity to Her Majesty, if you believed in those myths.\n\nBut looking at their bodies, even as old as they were, Amanda felt an awe fill her very being. It wasn’t a sexual desire, like she’d have expected. She just wanted to hold them, to touch them, be near these hermaphroditic foxes. They felt ancient and wise, they felt comforting and powerful. They felt, … terrifying and beautifully threatening. She started to feel like just being around them for too long would unravel her mind into utter madness.\n\nAll three nodded together. “You are ready to listen then. Ask your first question.”\n\nShe knew that the witches had chosen a number of questions she would be allowed to ask before they would make her leave, but would only tell her how many she had if she asked, using one of her questions. “Are these images my future?”\n\nOne of the witches seemed to slide up next to her, placing hir hands on the young Princess’s shoulders before pointing into the pool. “Each image you see is a possible future, one that CAN happen. We have weeded out all of the impossible leaving only the possible visible here today, and it is up to you to decide your future. Second question.”\n\n“What would have happened if my mom had stayed and joined the Council?”\n\nA second witch slid across the pool, right into Amanda’s face. “You seek an impossible future. That path was closed by decisions years before your birth, a path in which you would not exist. But, it is a path we have already explored, so you may have your answer.” The pool shimmered red, then it displayed her mother standing before an army of Union soldiers aboard a Union aircraft carrier. She was bound, the order given, and she was executed. Off in the distance, the Royal volcano erupted in a nuclear mushroom cloud. \"Your mother was a powerful figure, cunning, calculating, seductive. The Union would have seen in her their greatest fears realized and struck out to end us. Many forces combined to ensure that this fate, and others like it, are sealed away. Third Question.\"\n\nAmanda thought carefully, knowing this was likely her last one or two questions. \"What is the greatest threat to our people and our way of life?\"\n\nThe third witch returned the pool to its previous cerulean hues. \"You are careful with your words. And it serves you well. Your mother asked the wrong way, but you ask the right. There are forces beyond this world that meddle and interfere. You know the Queen, from whom we draw our power, but few know the truth of the El-Hym, on who's promise the Union was founded, to who's power many Kings claim rule.\" As shi spoke, the pool showed royalty through history, their crowns placed on their heads by bishops and popes of the major religions. \"Times will come when the El-Hym's power will rise and manifest. Choices must be made. Sacrifices paid. If you wish to put its power to rest.\"\n\nAmanda watched as a city exploded with tentacles large enough to wrap around skyscrapers and pull them down into a massive pit. Time flashed forward and the entity crawled across the surface of the world to devour Westercrest. Once it had done so, it grew rapidly to consume the entire planet.\n\n\"Fourth Question.\"\n\n\"What is a threat to our people I can do something about soon?\"\n\nTogether, the witches waved over the pool and Amanda saw people evacuating an island. Some boarded various ships, both military and otherwise, but one family was slow and barely missed the last departing ship. The Jarsinian, despite having no mast, sped by and Amanda guided them to jump aboard before the ship whisked them off to safety faster than she'd ever suspected her ship could go.\n\n\"Your time with us is at an end.\" The witches spun her around and by the time she'd gotten her footing again she was standing looking at the cliff rock where she'd entered, but there was no entrance. She knew better than to bother checking, it wouldn't be there.\n\nShe turned around and ran to her Away Team. Gathering them up she told them to leave their tools and return to the ship immediately. They radioed the other team to do the same.\n\nOnce at the ship, she ran to find Shull in his cabin. \"We, we need to get to Walaka Hurui. The volcano there is going to blow and families are in danger.\"\n\nShull sat up quickly in his ornate chair. \"First, how do you come by this information? Second, how do you propose we get there when you just pulled our teams off mast reconstruction. We certainly can't get there soon with just the rowing arms.\"\n\nAmanda finished catching her breath. \"I know it's hard to believe, Sir. I, I've just encountered the witches. They showed me.\"\n\nSir Tag opened the door and entered, peering eyes of the rest of the crew trying to look into the cabin. \"Oh, don't mind me. I just thought I should witness whatever this is.\" She closed the door and sat in her even larger chair.\n\nShull looked back to Amanda. \"The Reavian Witches are a Crestian nursery tale, nothing more. Did Holin put you up to this joke? Or, did Witiker scare you into thinking it was real?\"\n\n\"Sir, I have known they are real since I was a child. My mom received their prophecy as a girl, and now I have. They have given me one chance to make a difference where I know how it will turn out. I don't know how, but I know we can travel without the mast. We can do it now, and we can be there in time to save a family of geckos on Walaka Hurui, but only if we leave today.\"\n\nShull keyed the Comms. \"Takrie, can you check seismic readings for Walaka Hurui?\"\n\nTakries voice returned, \"Um, I don't have to check, Sir. Reports have been flying all day for ships to help with evacuation. It is estimated to erupt rather violently in about two days, but we aren't in any condition to respond so I was just going to list it in tonight's brief.\"\n\nShull blinked in surprise. \"Thank you. Well, that's one point in your favor. But she's right, we aren't in any condition to help, and even if we were, we are much slower and smaller than the other ships already responding. What could we contribute?\"\n\n\"We can save one family. Dr. Hashram and his wife and kids will be left on the dock having missed the last ship's departure. But we can save them.\"\n\nSir Tag stood up, \"How did you know that name?\"\n\nAmanda cowered slightly under the tortoise's frightful visage. \"I, he tells me tomorrow. I saw it in the vision pool.\"\n\nSir Tag threw open the doors and yelled. \"I am assuming Emergency Command of this vessel. Clear the main deck and secure all remaining sails. NOW!\" She stormed up to the control deck with Shull and Amanda following. \"All hands, get to control or quarters. I don't want anyone on the main deck.\"\n\nAt the controls she tapped a very deliberate sequence of buttons and turned knobs in ways that shouldn't have done much. Once she was done, she initiated the automatic sail system. Rather than engage the pulleys that had mostly been left to the ropeswains to man, it caused the main deck to split down the middle. The rigging poles lay flat as the raising sections of deck folded away and two large sails emerged, fired up on all corners by small rockets causing the entire ship to jerk forward, away from the island. But these sails didn't follow regular rigging. They rose higher and higher into the sky, up and away like giant paragliders. The higher they rose, the faster they pulled the ship.\n\nThe main deck folded back into place. \"All hands report to main deck for mission briefing.\"\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "The hologram showed a young fox in a navy harness, asleep on a large white bed in a retro-technical sailing cabin as two young navy marsupials hesitantly played their hands across her nubile body. Their love and inexperience were both obvious as they tried to think of what to do to her without her normal reactions to guide them.

They played with her rows of nipples, nibbled at her neck. The koala tried to hump her, but didn't seem to be enjoying it. Finally they settled on the koala fucking the wallaby on top of the fox while the wallaby occasionally played with the foxes pussy.

The whole hologram was captioned with notes from the fox herself, commenting on what an awkward situation she'd put them in. [My first sex tape, and I failed to prepare my partners.
Reine Mère! What have I done!? I feel like I can never look them in the face again, but I'm stuck on this ship with them for six more months. Oh, yeah, this was taken the night we launched to sea. That's my Captain and my best friend, the Comms officer. They really tried their best, but no one compares to you.]

"What's that, Chad," a naga asked her coworker.

Chad Farfield quickly snapped the hologram closed, "Uh, nothing!" Remembering where he was and the differing standards, he blushed and slowly reopened it. "Uh, I mean, it's, it's my little girl and her friends. It’s the Cadet’s first night at sea." He wasn't sure what Channek would think of it, but he was supposed to be open and honest to be a good Crestian and earn his full citizenship.

The naga looked it over, "Cadets? On the Jarcinian? I think they paraded by my parent’s village the other day. Hmm, I assume she consented to… that? Not my thing, but whatever. Neither are mammals in general. How's the programming going?"

Chad opened his displays, "Technically, the other two aren’t mammals, but I can see how easy it is to confuse us. As for the program, I'm getting a lot better with your systems than I was last week, so it's getting faster. Luckily, the Union medical computers were already Crestian designs, so I had some familiarity. I still have to look up a transfer code here or there to know how you guys do internal operations differently. I should have the DNA analysis code finished by Friday."

"Good work. But don't push yourself too hard. Tuesday will be just fine. If you rush and burn yourself out you'll miss things. We want quality code that will last, code you can be proud of."

The big gray wolf sighed. "Yeah, I get it, intellectually. I'm still having to shake the Union work ethic of production for profit, bosses wringing every bit of labor from each worker in as little time as possible, for minimum pay allowable."

Channek slithered up behind the wolf and used her four arms to massage his shoulders. "You know, as Crestians, we are all family. I could help you relieve some of the stress of this transition to our way of life."

Chad went stiff, both in his back and shoulders and in his lap. He missed the secrecy of pants. "Um, I'm, thank you, but, I'll have to decline. I have a small list of partners that I am dedicated to." He didn't want to say that his daughter had given him a Royal command, as that status was still a secret. He also felt guilty that part of him still feared reptiles like her. “Besides, I thought you weren’t into mammals.”

He was worried it was a bit of latent racism from how the Union painted reptiles as 'Super Predators' and relegated them to a barely livable state. He'd always believed it was wrong to treat them that way, but it was still hard to shake the decades of subtle propaganda. Movies with reptile villains, shows with prison blocks of mostly reptile inmates fighting the protagonists, news feeds of every major reptile crime.

She pressed her breasts against his back. “I don’t. I’ll be blunt, I’m not attracted to you at all, but if I can help, I’d like to. And you are, if not attractive, at least exotic. I’d never met someone from the Union before you joined our team.”

He consciously made the effort to let himself relax in her grip. "I guess, I mean, you can help me relax, as long as we don't go too far. My mate needs to approve any new partners."

Channek kept massaging, using her lower arms to work his chest while the upper arms remained on the shoulders and neck. "And, where is your mate now?"

—

Cadet Amanda Farfield looked out across the forested island from the rigging using her digital binoculars. It was a nice upgrade from the old fashioned slide-telescope she'd been using all week. She was glad that Tag was slowly letting them use some of the more modern equipment they'd brought. She understood the ethos, learning to appreciate the history of their craft so they could be thankful of the improvements and always be able to fall back to less technically dependent methods if necessary. But it still felt annoying to know they had better tools and were not allowed to use them.

Following several successful drills in ship maneuverability, they were going to make their first landing at the small island, and she had to find a suitable beachhead. Checking the maps on her wrist display, she verified the distance and coordinates and decided to avoid the bay due to possible complications with the reef. Instead, picking a beach near the island's sheer cliffs.

Relaying the path to her Captain, he proceeded to direct the crew to their destination.

Tag patted Shull's back as they approached the island cliffs. "You've done quite well, all of you. But I think it's time for a little disaster." She removed a knuckle grip from her belt and triggered it to launch a coherent beam of energy that crisscrossed the mast and main rigging, cutting them to shreds. "Hmm, maybe you can bring us in on oar power alone? And look at the state of those sheets. They can be fixed, and new rope made, but that mast, tisk tisk, that's going to need replacing. Better go ashore and find a good tree for it."

Shull stood for a moment, mouth agape at what the Admiral had just done. Then he sighed and started issuing orders. He wrote in his logs that, 'she is like a force of nature, but more cunning and calculated, and no less devastating.'

"First Mate Miles, Navigator Amanda, prepare away teams to look for supplies and a suitable mast tree. Ropemesser Holin, assemble a prep team, clear off the deck, and set up the lathe for a mast on the beach. In fact, why don't we make an extra pair of oars, these cliffs are a likely place to lose some."

The Admiral leaned in, "That's going to take quite a bit of our limited cargo space."

He nodded. "You're trying to make me second guess my decision, but that's not happening without actionable information."

She circled him, inspecting him like prey. "My, my, Shull, you've grown a bit stern."

"Yes, Admiral, I have. This last week, and now, you have shown me just how far you are willing to go to make us suffer and grow."

"Oh, you think this is the worst I'm willing to do?"

"No, I trust it is not. But seeing how callously you cut up your prized vessel, that tells me there is no limit. I expect you may even let some of us die out here if you believe it will improve the survivors."

She tented her claws deviously, "Excellent. You know now that I am not your savior out here. You and your crew are always in mortal danger, and only by working together will you survive. I have only six months to prepare you all for everything these waters can throw at you. So I will make this voyage a blessed hell."

“And I’m going to make sure my entire crew makes it through!”

“Goood. That’s why I chose you as Captain.”

---

“Amanda?” The purple serval called out in the forest. She held her harness to keep from fidgeting as she looked around for the rest of her Away Team.

A brownish red blur dropped down in front of her causing her to jump in fear. “Yes, Witiker?” Amanda grabbed the Oar Tech to keep her from falling to the jungle floor. “Did you lose us? Ropeswain Timothy says he found a good tree, if you agree we’ll call Miles’ team to come help cut it down. We’ve also found some ripe fruits to add to our supplies, and plenty of long plant fiber for the loom.” Amanda escorted Cadet Witiker to the site of the prospective new mast so she could inspect it.

As Amanda kept searching the jungle she felt a subtle call, a pull, in one specific direction. She’d felt it before, that instinct that guided her to select this island in the first place. Following it she found herself facing the rocks of the cliff. Unlike the rest of the island, these had no soil, they were too hard for large plants to grow upon and were dominated by climbing vines. Finding a small passage behind some of the vines, she descended into the rocky cave.

At first, her night vision was sufficient, but as she went further the light became too dim and she put on active IR goggles. A few turns in and the previously full batteries suddenly registered empty. As she shook the equipment, felt along the cables, and was about to put them back on to try again, she noticed a subtle glow all around. Her eyes slowly adjusted to see by the light of the bioluminescent fungi. The spoors then seemed to form a trail, guiding her onward, downward, further and further.

She knew it was wrong to leave her team, but something about this felt so right to do alone.

Finally, she emerged into a fire lit cave, candles and braziers suspended from support beams all around the edges of the cave. At the center, a pool of water bubbled as if boiling, but it gave off no steam. She stepped toward the pool and saw images swirling within, all of her. But these were things that had never happened.

She saw herself speaking with an older wallaby, Major Takrie, by her insignia. She saw herself placing flowers on her father’s funeral pyre. She saw herself leading a meeting of Princlings from all three Royal Families.

As she stood transfixed, three robed figures emerged from the darkness and approached the pool. “Welcome, Princess Jarcinia Halsy.”

The words shook her from gazing into the pool. “You, you know who I am? Um. Are, are you the Reavian Witches? My mom told me about you.”

They removed their hoods, revealing their older vixen faces. Reaching their hands over the pool, their robes caught with a greenish-blue fire that quickly consumed the cloth from their bodies leaving their forms naked. Amanda could see that, just as her mother had said, the Witches were both male and female at the same time. Herms in most countries were shunned, often killed, if the doctors didn’t ‘fix’ them shortly after birth. But not here in Westercrest. Here, they held a place of reverence for their similarity to Her Majesty, if you believed in those myths.

But looking at their bodies, even as old as they were, Amanda felt an awe fill her very being. It wasn’t a sexual desire, like she’d have expected. She just wanted to hold them, to touch them, be near these hermaphroditic foxes. They felt ancient and wise, they felt comforting and powerful. They felt, … terrifying and beautifully threatening. She started to feel like just being around them for too long would unravel her mind into utter madness.

All three nodded together. “You are ready to listen then. Ask your first question.”

She knew that the witches had chosen a number of questions she would be allowed to ask before they would make her leave, but would only tell her how many she had if she asked, using one of her questions. “Are these images my future?”

One of the witches seemed to slide up next to her, placing hir hands on the young Princess’s shoulders before pointing into the pool. “Each image you see is a possible future, one that CAN happen. We have weeded out all of the impossible leaving only the possible visible here today, and it is up to you to decide your future. Second question.”

“What would have happened if my mom had stayed and joined the Council?”

A second witch slid across the pool, right into Amanda’s face. “You seek an impossible future. That path was closed by decisions years before your birth, a path in which you would not exist. But, it is a path we have already explored, so you may have your answer.” The pool shimmered red, then it displayed her mother standing before an army of Union soldiers aboard a Union aircraft carrier. She was bound, the order given, and she was executed. Off in the distance, the Royal volcano erupted in a nuclear mushroom cloud. "Your mother was a powerful figure, cunning, calculating, seductive. The Union would have seen in her their greatest fears realized and struck out to end us. Many forces combined to ensure that this fate, and others like it, are sealed away. Third Question."

Amanda thought carefully, knowing this was likely her last one or two questions. "What is the greatest threat to our people and our way of life?"

The third witch returned the pool to its previous cerulean hues. "You are careful with your words. And it serves you well. Your mother asked the wrong way, but you ask the right. There are forces beyond this world that meddle and interfere. You know the Queen, from whom we draw our power, but few know the truth of the El-Hym, on who's promise the Union was founded, to who's power many Kings claim rule." As shi spoke, the pool showed royalty through history, their crowns placed on their heads by bishops and popes of the major religions. "Times will come when the El-Hym's power will rise and manifest. Choices must be made. Sacrifices paid. If you wish to put its power to rest."

Amanda watched as a city exploded with tentacles large enough to wrap around skyscrapers and pull them down into a massive pit. Time flashed forward and the entity crawled across the surface of the world to devour Westercrest. Once it had done so, it grew rapidly to consume the entire planet.

"Fourth Question."

"What is a threat to our people I can do something about soon?"

Together, the witches waved over the pool and Amanda saw people evacuating an island. Some boarded various ships, both military and otherwise, but one family was slow and barely missed the last departing ship. The Jarsinian, despite having no mast, sped by and Amanda guided them to jump aboard before the ship whisked them off to safety faster than she'd ever suspected her ship could go.

"Your time with us is at an end." The witches spun her around and by the time she'd gotten her footing again she was standing looking at the cliff rock where she'd entered, but there was no entrance. She knew better than to bother checking, it wouldn't be there.

She turned around and ran to her Away Team. Gathering them up she told them to leave their tools and return to the ship immediately. They radioed the other team to do the same.

Once at the ship, she ran to find Shull in his cabin. "We, we need to get to Walaka Hurui. The volcano there is going to blow and families are in danger."

Shull sat up quickly in his ornate chair. "First, how do you come by this information? Second, how do you propose we get there when you just pulled our teams off mast reconstruction. We certainly can't get there soon with just the rowing arms."

Amanda finished catching her breath. "I know it's hard to believe, Sir. I, I've just encountered the witches. They showed me."

Sir Tag opened the door and entered, peering eyes of the rest of the crew trying to look into the cabin. "Oh, don't mind me. I just thought I should witness whatever this is." She closed the door and sat in her even larger chair.

Shull looked back to Amanda. "The Reavian Witches are a Crestian nursery tale, nothing more. Did Holin put you up to this joke? Or, did Witiker scare you into thinking it was real?"

"Sir, I have known they are real since I was a child. My mom received their prophecy as a girl, and now I have. They have given me one chance to make a difference where I know how it will turn out. I don't know how, but I know we can travel without the mast. We can do it now, and we can be there in time to save a family of geckos on Walaka Hurui, but only if we leave today."

Shull keyed the Comms. "Takrie, can you check seismic readings for Walaka Hurui?"

Takries voice returned, "Um, I don't have to check, Sir. Reports have been flying all day for ships to help with evacuation. It is estimated to erupt rather violently in about two days, but we aren't in any condition to respond so I was just going to list it in tonight's brief."

Shull blinked in surprise. "Thank you. Well, that's one point in your favor. But she's right, we aren't in any condition to help, and even if we were, we are much slower and smaller than the other ships already responding. What could we contribute?"

"We can save one family. Dr. Hashram and his wife and kids will be left on the dock having missed the last ship's departure. But we can save them."

Sir Tag stood up, "How did you know that name?"

Amanda cowered slightly under the tortoise's frightful visage. "I, he tells me tomorrow. I saw it in the vision pool."

Sir Tag threw open the doors and yelled. "I am assuming Emergency Command of this vessel. Clear the main deck and secure all remaining sails. NOW!" She stormed up to the control deck with Shull and Amanda following. "All hands, get to control or quarters. I don't want anyone on the main deck."

At the controls she tapped a very deliberate sequence of buttons and turned knobs in ways that shouldn't have done much. Once she was done, she initiated the automatic sail system. Rather than engage the pulleys that had mostly been left to the ropeswains to man, it caused the main deck to split down the middle. The rigging poles lay flat as the raising sections of deck folded away and two large sails emerged, fired up on all corners by small rockets causing the entire ship to jerk forward, away from the island. But these sails didn't follow regular rigging. They rose higher and higher into the sky, up and away like giant paragliders. The higher they rose, the faster they pulled the ship.

The main deck folded back into place. "All hands report to main deck for mission briefing."

", "pools_count": 2, "title": "RWDC 8 - The Lonely Island", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "image/png", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "2", "name": "Nudity", "description": "Nonsexual nudity exposing breasts or genitals (must not show arousal)", "rating_id": "1" }, { "content_tag_id": "4", "name": "Sexual Themes", "description": "Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "0", "views": "164" }